Philadelphia residents flee from major storm

PHILADELPHIA -- Hundreds of residents in southeastern Pennsylvania fled their homes Monday in anticipation of rising floodwaters from Hurricane Sandy, as officials warned of the massive storm's danger.

Sheila Gladden evacuated her home in Philadelphia's flood-prone Eastwick neighborhood and headed to a hotel, preferring not to take any chances.

"I'm not going through this again," said Gladden, who had 5½ feet of water in her home after Hurricane Floyd in 1999. "They're telling me this is going to be worse than Floyd because this is some superstorm. I'm not going back until the water's receded."

The storm had state and local officials bracing for the worst.

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"This is a hurricane inside of a nor'easter. ... (It) will cover the entire 300 miles of Pennsylvania," Gov. Tom Corbett said.

In Delaware County, floodwaters were rising on both the Chester and Brandywine creeks by early Monday evening and officials were bracing for it to get worse. Residents in flood-prone areas were already hunkered down at local firehouses and schools, said Ed Truitt of the Delaware County Emergency Management Agency.

"Things are still manageable but we're expecting more damage later on tonight," he said. "High tide comes at around 8 o'clock, and as the rain and winds increase we're expecting trees down, wires down, outages."

Three hundred people had already evacuated to shelters in the Philadelphia area by midday Monday -- hours before Sandy's worst was expected to hit. In the neighboring communities of Darby and Bensalem, hundreds more residents had been ordered from their homes amid fears of flooding that could peak overnight.

Bensalem Public Safety Director Fred Harran said it was better to get residents near the Neshaminy Creek out early than deal with a dangerous situation at 2 a.m.

"It could be the worst we've ever seen," he said.

In Philadelphia, Mayor Michael Nutter said as many as 10,000 people live in low-lying areas. Some have headed to shelters while many others are staying with family or friends.

"If we need to evacuate, we will," he said.

Officials said city offices would remain closed Tuesday, along with Philadelphia's public schools. Mass transit would also remain offline into Tuesday.

In west Philadelphia, Veronica Price heard the warnings of city officials Sunday night and decided she should head straight to a shelter after church.

So, she "dressed down" for church and went directly to a city shelter at West Philadelphia High School after the service. As someone who lives alone, she knew she was one of the people the city was urging to head for a shelter.

"I said ... 'That's me, I'm out," said Price, 66, who was most worried about going days without power. "I got my bag and came straight here."

High wind and flood warnings were in effect for much of southeastern Pennsylvania, where winds of up to 75 mph and up to 10 inches of rain were possible.

Mike Dangelo, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in State College, said the strongest of the winds will lash south-central, southeastern and northeastern Pennsylvania Monday night into early Tuesday. Major rivers will stay within their banks, but small streams in southern Pennsylvania will flood, he said.

"People are starting to have power outages with not even the strongest of the winds here yet," Dangelo said.

Officials warned that Sandy was a dangerous storm that promises to bring power outages that could last for days. By Monday afternoon, utilities reported more than 25,000 customers without power.

Darby Mayor Helen Thomas said her town opened its recreation center to more than 150 people that had to leave their homes. Local businesses were helping to feed evacuees.

"We're going to do what we've got to do to help our residents," she said, adding, "we won't turn away anyone."

Michael Dornblum, a furniture store manager in Philadelphia's low-lying Manayunk neighborhood, had stacked sandbags and caulked doors in anticipation of the Schuylkill River overflowing its banks.

"We've been through probably a dozen floods that come into the street in the front of the building. And this appears to be the scariest one," he said.

PennDOT and Pennsylvania Turnpike officials have instituted speed restrictions over concerns about high winds and ordered certain vehicles, including empty trucks and motorcycles, off some highways.

President Barack Obama signed an emergency declaration for Pennsylvania early Monday that will allow state officials to request federal funding and other storm assistance.

In portions of western Pennsylvania, the National Weather Service issued a flash flood watch for areas that could get more than 2 inches of rain Monday and Tuesday, causing some flooding along small streams or where drainage is poor. Snow was expected later in the week.

In Easton, The Express-Times newspaper said it would deliver Tuesday's paper with Wednesday's editions due to deteriorating conditions. The newspaper would be available, however, at some stores and single-copy locations.